Tom btrkett barker



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

T. B. BARKER.

GAS ENGINE.

' No. 400,163. Patnted Mar. 26, 1889.

N PETERS PiwloLkhognbheh'Wn'shingiun. o. c.

v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

B.BARKBR. GAS ENGINE.

No. 400,163. Patented Mar. 26, 1889.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

TOM BIRKETT BARKER, OF BIRMINGHAM, COUNTY OF \VARVICK, ENGLAND.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,163, dated March 26, 1889.

Application filed January 5, 1889. Serial No. 295,555. (No model.) Patented in England October 15, 1887, No. 14,027, and in Belgium November 15, 1888, No. 83,690.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Told BIRKETT BARKER, machinist, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 66 Scholefield Street, Bir- 5 mingham, in the county of Warwick, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines; and I do hereby declare the-followin g to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Letters Patent have beengranted for this invention in Great Britain, No. 14,027, dated October 15, 1887, and in Belgium, No. 83,690,

I dated November 15, 1888.

This invention relates to gas-engines; and it consists in the novel construction and combination of the parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, whereby the ignition of co the gaseous charge is effected.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of the rear portion of a gas-engine, showing the ignition devices. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same from above. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal 2 5 vertical section through the ignition-plate, the chimney, and a portion of the cylinder. Fig. 4 is a side View of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig 5 is adetail plan view of the outside face of the ignition-plate, drawn to a larger scale; and Fig. 6 is a transverse cross-section on line A A in Fig. 1.

The ignition-plate a is j ournaled upon the 1 sleeve 10, which runs upon a stud, 10 projecting from the rear of the cylinder a which is provided with a water-jacket, a like most gas-engines. The valve-shaft u is parallel with the cylinder and is revolved from the main shaft by gearing of ordinary kind, and not shown in the drawings. The ignition-plate a is revolved intermittently by means of the reciprocating pawl Z, pivoted to the lever 11. The lever 01 is actuated by the crank u on the end of shaft u, and the pawl Z engages With the teeth 6 on the periphery of plate a. A buffer, m, of leather or other soft material, is secured to the pawl Z to strike upon the top of the teeth and deaden the sound which would otherwise be produced when the pawl drops into gear. The inflammable gas is admitted to the cylinder through the tappet-valve a", operated by the lever 0, secured upon the rear end of shaft 0', which is parallel with the shaft 14. A cam,

s, is secured upon shaft u, and operates the lever 0 secured upon the other end of shaft 0, thereby opening the gas-valve at appropriate intervals. The ignition of the compressed gaseous charge in the cylinder is effected through the port d by means of the ignition-plate a, which is provided with a series of equidistant and similar ignition-cavities. Each cavity is provided with an opening, h, in its inner face, which is brought into. communication with the port d by the motion of plate a, and two openings, f and g, in its outer face. The ignition is effected by a traveling jet of gas issuing from the passage 7' in front of opening h inside the cavity. This jet of gas is ignited by means of the stationary gas-jet h, under the chimney 00, which is secured to the cover-plate b.

The cover-plate b is provided with an opening, f, which registers with the opening f in plate a, and f is a passage in the cover-plate which communicates with the opening g in plate a, and permits sufficient air to enter the cavity to support the combustion of the gas issuing from the passage A fixed gasduct, j, is provided in the cover, and the passage j communicates with this duct as long as the opening f in the plate is in communication with the opening j' in the cover. Just before the ignition of the charge in the cylinder is effected the motion of plate a first cuts off the communication between openings f and g and the end of passage 7' in the plate a with the openings f and f and the ductj in the coverplate, respectively, and immediately after brings the opening it in front of the ignition-port d. A small hole, 41, is pro- 0 vided in the inner face of the plate a, which hole communicates with the gas-passage 9' and the said hole 1' is brought into communication with port d just before the opening h communicates with the port (Z. This per- 5 mits the pressure of the inflammable mixture in port cl to come behind the lighted gas issuing from passage 7' and the said lighted gas in the cavity of the plate a then ignites the inflammable mixture of gas and air in the IOO port (I of the cylinder. If no hole 2' were provided, the outward rush of the compressed inflammable mixture from port (7 into the cavity of plate a would put out the flame issu- 5 ing from the passage 3' as soon as the opening 7b was ln'ought into communication with port (.7, and the mixture in the cylinder would not be ignited. After the ignition in the cylinder has been effected, the plate (i continues 10 its motion a short distance, until the port d is nearly but not quite closed, a small portion of opening 71. being left still in communication with the port cl when the plate a comes to rest. This small opening permits T5 the port and the cavity to be cleared of all residual gas, and the port (Z is not completely closed by the plate CL until the said plate again set in motion by the ratchet-gear and the cylinder has been recharged with inflam- 2o mablc gas and air, ready for the next ignition to be effected by the next following similar cavity in the ignitionplate.

E is the speed-governor, which may be of any approved construction and provided with 2 5 any convenient mechanism or series of connecting-levers for placing the cam 8 out of gear with the lever 0 when the speed of the engine becomes too great. As the lever 0 secured upon the same shaft, 0, as the lever 0 0, which opens the gas-valve '2', the said gasvalve is not opened at all. when the governorballs rise high enough to prevent the cam from operating the said lever 0 As the cylinder receives no gas when the valve '1' is not 5 opened, and :it is not then requisite for motion to be imparted to the ignition-plate, the pawl I held out of gear with the teeth (2 on plate a until each time the said valve '2' is actuated by its lever. This is effected by means of the s pivoted lever p, which is provided with a pin,

g, at one end, which enters the slot (1' in the tail of pawl 7. A spring, 1) normally keeps the pin (1 in the slot, and thereby holds the said pawl out of gear with the teeth A cam 5 or tappet, p, is secured to lever 0 and operates upon the other end of lever 2). Each time the lever o is moved to open the gas-valve r the cam p operates through the lever 2') and withdraws the pin q from the slot in the pawl and permits it to fall into gearwith the teeth e, the before-mentioned leather pad or butter m preventing all obj eotionable noise or click.

The form of connection between the lever o and the pawl may be variously modified to 5 5 produce the same result. For instance, a sliding lever might be arranged under the pawl and connected to lever 0. The form of the pawl may also be varied and its direction of motion may be reversedthat is, it may be made to pull instead of to push. The rotating ignition-plate may be mounted in various ways to adapt it to the sides or ends of differently-formed gas-engine cylinders, and the number of ignition-cavities in the plate may varied.

The cover 7) is secured against the ignition- A spring, w, in each plate (I by the studs 11*.

hollow nut r keeps the cover pressed against the face of plate a, and each nut r touches the part U2 of the cover and receives the high pressure which comes upon it at the moment ignition is fully effected in the cylinder. The nuts I are kept .in position by the cheekscrews 1 which bear upon the ends of the studs 05 as shown.

R is the gas-inlet pipe, S the air-inlet pipe, and T is the exhaustpipe. The cXhaust-valve is worked from a cam on. shaft a through the bell-crank lever T; but none of these parts form a part of the present invention, which is confined to the devices for igniting the charge in the cylinder.

\Vhat I claim is 1. The combination, with a gas-engine cylinder provided with a single ignition-port and a cover-plate provided with a fixed ignition gas-duct and with openings for lighting the traveling ignition gas-jet and supplying it with air, of an l11tOlllllhllellt-LY-TOVO]IllJlQ ignition-plate jmirnaled between the said coverplate and the cylinder, and provided with a series of equidistant similar cavities, each having openings communicating with the ig nit-ion-port in the cylinder and with the said openings in the covcr- ')late, an ignition gasjet passage opening into each cavity and adapted to communicate with the fixed gasduct in the cover-plate, and a hole for placing said gas-jet passage in communication with the port in the cylinder just before the cavity itself communicates with the said port, all arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination,with a gas-engine cylinder provided with a single ignition-port, a cover-plate provided with a fixed ignition gas-duct and with openings for lighting the traveling ignition gas-jet and supplying it with air, and a continuously revoluble ignition-plate journaled between the said coverplate and the cylinder, and having a series of equidistant ignition-cavities provided with traveling gas-jet passages and with openings, substantially as set forth, of ratchet 1116011311 ism connected. to said ignition-plate for revolving itintiermittently and suddenly,where by at each movement of said plate an ignitioncavity is moved across the port in the cylinder but not entirely cut oil from communication with it and the next following ignitioncavity is simultaneously placed in communication with the openings in the cover-plate.

In a gasengine, the combination, with a revoluble ignition-plate having a series of eiptidistant ignition-cavities, o1": ratchet mechanism connected to said ignition-plate for revolving it intermittently, a tappct-valve for supplying gas to the cylinder, a speed-governor, and a tappet or lever controlled by the said speed-governor and adapted to simultaneously op en the said tappet-valve an d permit the said ratchet mechanism to engage with the ignition-plate.

4. In a gasengine, the coml)ination, with a revoluble ignition-plate having a series of the said tappet-valve and disengage the said 1'0 equidistant ignition cavities and ratehetpin from the pawl, substantially and for the teeth, of a pivoted continuously-reoiproeating purpose set forth.

pawl for revolving said plate intermittently v In testimony whereof I- affix my signature in a pivoted lever provided With a pin engaging presence of two Witnesses.

with a slot in said pawl and holding it clear TOM BIRKETT BARKER. of the ratchet-teeth, a speed-governor, and a itnesses:

tappet or lever controlled by the said speed- T. HARRY HARRISON,

governor and adapted to simultaneously open G. HARKER. 

